Today, many electronic devices, such as computers and cell phones, use analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to convert analog signals to digital signals. Many analog-to-digital conversion techniques use precise ratio-matching of passive or active components in order to achieve high accuracy. However, semiconductor processing technology may limit the ability to achieve precise matching of components.
Although the use of large components (e.g., large capacitors) may yield precisely matched components, this may not be desirable since it may increase the die area needed for placement of the components. Several conventional ADCs do not use precision ratio-matched components to achieve high accuracy. However, in order to attain ratio-independent operation, these ADCs may use a large number of clock cycles to complete a conversion, thereby increasing the conversion time of the converter.
Thus, there is a continuing need for better ways to perform an analog-to-digital conversion that use less die area and have faster conversion times.